Display device



Sept. 17, 1935. J JACOBSON 2,014,436

DISPLAY DEVICE Filed Jan. 16, 1953 INVENTOR \Jnmzs d. Jncossow.

ATTORNEY UNITED STATES Patented Sept. 17, 1935 DISPLAY DEVICE James J. Jacobson, Great Neck, N. Y., assignor to Edward T. Bedford, New York, N. Y.

ATENT OFFICE This invention relates tov display devices. In one of its particular aspects, the invention has application in the construction of a form for displaying, in a simple and efiicient manner, ar-

5. ticles such as brassieres.

It isan object of theinvention to provide a support member for such an article of clothing which is so constructed that it may be manufactured simply and cheaply.

10, It is an object. of. the invention to provide a support member of the character described in the use of which there are required no intricate operations for assembly of the article of clothing therewith.

15. It is an object of the invention to provide a support member of the character set forth which is capable of being packed away in quantities in but a small space.

It is an object of, the invention to provide a supportmember for use in displaying brassieres andlike articles of clothing which member, merely by being placed in av certain relationship to a horizontal surface, is capable of sustaining itself in upright position. On the other hand, with such an article of' clothing attached tov the form, the elements of its construction, enter readily into an arrangement whereby the entire assembly may be supported. in raised position with the article of clothing, such as a brassiere, itself supplying the necessary force to maintain that article positioned upon the display member. In such an arrangement, the natural resistance of the form to distorting forces is utilized in a positive manner to assure the retention of the brassiere in its assembled relation.

An embodiment carrying out certain of these objects may be constructed with a reinforced frame across which is positioned a form defining material. In one case, a fabric, treated to impart to it the property of retaining a desired form, was stretched across the frame. The shaping of the form, so-imparted, is made to simulate the portion of the body upon which the article of clothing is to be worn. In the case of a brassiere, the form is representative of the bust for which a particular brassiere is designed. The product of this construction retains certain elastic properties. Owing, however, to the method of its formation, and to the particular materials used, the entire construction may be of very small cross-section throughout its extent. The frame includes bent portions providing walls extending angularly with relation to the shaped portions of the form. The disposition of these angularly disposed walls is made such that the form as a unit permits piling thereof one upon another to nest them and decrease radically the volume otherwise necessary for their storage.

The form is made with sufficient inherent elasticity that, when a. brassiere is stretched across 5 the parts of the form therefor intended, and the customary bands of the brassiere are then disposed at the rear portion of the form, the form itself will transmit a sufiicient force to the brassiere to bind it to and retain it firmly upon the 10 form.

The construction of the form with its angularly extending walls is designed to give to the form a certain contouring such that the entire assembly, with the article of clothing assembled thereon, may be positioned in an upright position with the bottom edge of the form resting upon a horizontal surface. The light weight of the form, together with the manner in which the brassiere is retained upon the form, make it possible to utilize the straps of the brassire itself to support the entire assembly even if the form be suspended in mid-air Without any other supporting means.

Other objects of this invention will hereinafter be set forth, or will be apparent from the descrip- 2 tion and the drawing, in which is illustrated an embodiment of a device for carrying out the invention.

The invention, however, is not intended to be restricted to any particular construction or ar- 30 rangement of parts, or to any particular application of such construction, or to any specific manner of use, or to any of various details thereof herein shown and described, as the same may be modified in various particulars or be applied in many varied relations Without departing from the spirit and scope of the claimed invention, the practical embodiment herein illustrated and described being one possible form in which the invention may be applied. 40

On the drawing, in which the same reference characters refer to the same parts throughout, and in which is disclosed a practical embodiment:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a model form, embodying the invention, a brassire intended to 45 be assembled therewith being shown in dotted lines;

Fig. 2 is another View in perspective illustrating the manner in which the model form is made self-supporting when disposed upon a horizontal 50 surface;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged View in horizontal transverse section, on the line 33 of Fig. 1, illlustrating the particular manner of construction of the model form; and

Fig. 4 is a view in perspective, illustrating the manner of nesting the forms for storage.

The model form ll] shown on the drawing is made up with a frame I2 of some resilient material which, although resilient, has sufiicient rigidity to assure a definite shaping for the form. The material selected in this particular case was a wire M which was shaped to the contouring in which the lower edge 16 f the frame, substantially throughout its entire extent, was substantially in the same plane. Edge It may, however, be designed to have substantial portions, rather than all portions, thereof so disposed with results approximately the same.

Top edge i8 of the frame may be given any desired contouring, the two edges I6 and I8 defining a body portion 20 for the frame. These edges and the end vertical edges 22 and 24 also bound wings 26 and 28 which extend angularly away from the body portion of the frame at the opposite ends thereof, simulating, to some degree, if desired, the shaping of the body of wearer of such articles. All of the edges IS, IS, 22 and 24 are preferably formed by wire Hi, which may be a continuous length. Wings 26 and 28 are preferably in the form of upstanding walls. When the form is positioned as shown in Fig. 2, these walls insure to the form the desired stability.

Stretched between edges 16, i8, 22 and 24, and across the frame defined by them, is arranged a fabric body portion 38. In the particular construction, the fabric forming the body portion may be of sized fabric, buckram or material similar thereto, capable of being worked to assume a substantially fixed form. The body portion is, after assembly on the frame, by any well known process, given a set to retain a configuration such as of portions of the bust upon which a brassiere is worn. The final product of such process, while tending to retain its shape, still is flexible to a certain degree; in thickness, it does not exceed the thickness of wire M and of fabric body portion 3%. Therefore, these forms may be arranged one within the other, as shown in Fig. i, with extreme ease, reducing the space necessary for storage or transportation of the forms,

A binder strip 32 may be passed around and over the free edges of the form, as defined by wire M and fabric body portion 38, which, in this case, may be bound to each by any suitable means such as threads 34. A similar securing means, such as threads 36, may be used to fix strip 32 to the fabric body portion, the strip then enclosing the reinforced edge of the fabric body portion.

In addition to positioning the form as shown in Fig. 2 it is possible, after brassiere 38 has been positioned upon the form in the manner shown in Fig. 1, to suspend the entire assembly by means of straps 4b of the brassiere. In such case, the tightening straps d2 of the brassiere are drawn together to make the brassiere engage the form more tightly. This reaction of the brassire will ensue against the resilient action of frame I2. The protruding areas of body portion 30 or similar contouring of the form will then retain the brassiere against slipping off the form, the resilience of the form causing the brassire to adhere closely thereto. This automatic functioning of the form is important in all of the relationships assumed by the form and the brassire as a smooth appearance is imparted to the assembly under all circumstances. Under the circumstances where the entire assembly is supported from straps 40, this feature is especially important in that the brassiere is retained positively against movement relatively to the form by slipp Many other changes could be effected in the particular structure designed, and in the methods of use set forth, and in specific details thereof, without substantially departing from the invention intended to be defined in the claims, the specific description merely illustrating an operative embodiment capable of carrying out the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed as new and useful is:

l. A display form for displaying snugly fitting articles of clothing, such as brassieres or similar articles, the form comprising, a resilient wire framework and a shaped body of stiffened flexible material carried from the framework, the body and the framework being shaped to define a front wall conforming to the shaping of the portion of the body for which the articles of clothing to be displayed are intended and also to provide a bow-shaped form having resilient side walls extending rearwardly from. said front wall, the lower edge of the framework being shaped so as to provide parts of the front and side walls lying in one plane to render the form self sustaining, and the side walls of the form being so directed 40 that the same are flexed inwardly by the brassire or the like so that it is firmly supported on the form.

2. A display form for displaying snugly fitting articles of clothing, such as brassires or similar articles, the form comprising a resilient wire framework and a shaped body of stiffened flexible material carried from the framework, the body and the framework being shaped to define a front wall conforming to the shaping of the pertion of the body for which the articles of clothing to be displayed are intended and also to provide a bow-shaped form having resilient side walls i extending rearwardly from said front wall, the lower edge of the framework being .shaped so that the front and side walls thereof lie in one plane to render the form self sustaining, and the side walls of the form being so directed that the same are flexed inwardly by the brassire or the like so that it is firmly supported on the form- JAMES J. JACOBSON. 

